The Party's Not Over Yet
by Hammers and Strings
Summary: JavaJunkieDid anyone else think that Rory was less than enthusiastic about the Luke and Loralei relationship when she went to see Chris in “The Party’s Over?” And that somewhere in Chris’s brain, he could have misconstrued that as “let’s all be one big ha
1. The Consequences of Backpedaling Clowns

**A/N: So I was hanging around on incensed with gilmoregirls1979 sudden censorship (I'm wearing a purple ribbon for WITS), when I started to read my reviews from "Speed Dial." I realized that I missed getting those review email in my mailbox, so I thought I'd give this thing another go. In doing so, I realized that I have a lot of latent hostility towards Chris. My fics tend to do him a lot of physical harm. But I'm okay with that.**

**The premise: Did anyone else think that Rory was less than enthusiastic about the Luke and Loralei relationship when she went to see Chris in "The Party's Over?" And that somewhere in Chris's brain, he could have misconstrued that as "let's all be one big happy family"? You didn't? Just me? Oh well…**

**Chapter One: The Consequences of Backpedaling Clowns**

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Chris' apartment

(knock, knock, Chris answers.)

CHRIS: Rory, hey! What are you doing here? I – uh, here. Hey, it's good to see you, kiddo! (Hugs her) Uh, come on in, sit down. Uh, Gigi is asleep, which is basically a miracle, but what the hell, for you I'll wake her up.

RORY: No, that's okay. I can't stay long.

CHRIS: Well, some sit down.

RORY: No, I can't stay.

CHRIS: Okay.

RORY: I don't want you calling Mom anymore.

CHRIS: What?

RORY: I want you to stay away from her.

CHRIS: Rory, I –

RORY: Mom's in a relationship now, and she's doing really great. He's kind, and, well, he's there. And she's happy.

----------------------------------------------(herewego)---------------------------------------------------------

Chris looked up at his daughter's last words. "He's there?" He questioned her enthusiasm, with a hint of hope in his voice. "So she's just settling for 'there' now?"

Rory frowned at this misconstrued playback of what she had meant to be letting her father down easy. "You know what I mean Dad. He's there. For her, especially. You are…not so much."

Chris wasn't sure how to take this. "Yeah I haven't been there in the past, kiddo. But," he trailed off and thought of the consequences of what he was about to say to his now first-born daughter. "I…that could change."

Rory recoiled at what her dad was implying. "Dad, no…Don't do anything like…you'll…" she stammered, not knowing how to tell her father to _stay the hell away_ while still remaining the calm little lamb that everyone expected of her. But before she could collect her thoughts, her father jumped in with some of his own.

"Does she love him?"

Rory was too lost in her own head to realize what Chris has just asked her. "What?"

"Does your mom love this guy? More than me?"

Rory should her head. "No, dad. Don't do that. She doesn't love you anymore. You've run over her too many times for that. She's moved on. That's what I came here to tell you. You have to let it go. Let her go. Because she's let you go. She's with Luke now."

Chris smirked a little at this in his own weasel-like way. "I keep hearing you say that to me. But you never answered my question. Does she love him?"

Rory stammered her way to an honest answer. "I …I don't know. We haven't really talked much about it."

Chris smiled, satisfied. "So what's the deal? You don't like this guy"

Rory scoffed at her father's obvious obliviousness to her life. "Are you kidding? _I_ love Luke!" And without thinking she reverted to the standard answer. "He's like a fa…."

Chris froze. "Like a what?"

Rory backpedaled faster than a clown on a unicycle at the circus (they had gone once, when she was eight). "Like a friend. I was saying that Luke is more like a friend to me than mom's boyfriend. I love him." And adding a little something extra for her dead-beat dad. "He'd do anything for me"

Chris sneered at this. "Hey kiddo, you know that true…"

Rory snickered and interrupted the obvious lie that was reaching her dad's lips. "Don't you even say that's true of you too, Dad. Even you know that's a lie." She looked down at her watch. " I should get going." She started towards the door and opened it.

Chris was still stuck on the last words out of her mouth. He was in Super-Dad mode now, right? Why not do right by his other daughter while he was at it? He stopped her at the door, pushing it closed.

"Look Ror, I know I haven't been the best dad in the world…ever. But I'm trying to do things right now. I promise I'm going to make this thing right."

Rory stopped and look up at the bearer of one-half of her chromosomes, thoroughly perplexed. "What thing?"

Chris put on his best pitiful/sympathetic face. "Us. You me and your mom. Our family."

At this, Rory had to laugh out loud. She had had enough of this. She tried to let him down easy, but the kid gloves were coming off. "Please, Dad. _We_ don't have a family. Mom and I do. "

Chris wasn't used to this side of his daughter. She had always been so nice to him, no matter how man times he screwed up. He had always thought that in the end, she wanted the three of them together as a family (well, four now, if you count Gigi). He had to interrupt her "But we could…"

" I already told you no, Dad. We do just fine without you. We have for years. Mom and me, and that's it." As she opened the door, she realized the bitter clinch and she turned right before shutting the door and added. "Oh, and I guess Luke now too."

She saw the furious look on her biological fathers face right before she heard the loud click of the latch. She knew it was the wrong thing to say to her dad, especially condsidering his past record of fervently pursuing her mother (who could blame him?), she knew it was mean, but she had had enough. However as she got into her car and headed back to Yale, she realized that, for some reason, she was on the verge on tears. She picked up her cell phone, pressed and held in the number one. When she heard the familiar voice on the other end, she almost broke down.

"Mom? I think we have a problem? Yeah, I need to talk…I'm on my way over now. Okay, bye."

And she made her way back to Stars Hollow, with only a small inkling of the trouble that lay ahead.

**A/N: It's an LL, I promise! Just let me get there!**


	2. The Magic of EverRinging Phones

**Chapter 2: The Magic of Ever-Ringing Phones**

Rory reached the house and was no sooner out of her car than her mother was out the front door, down the steps and by her side. Lorelai wasn't fooled by the hastily dried tears on her daughter's face and concern was evident in her voice.

"Rory? Honey, what's wrong, your call earlier really freaked me out!"

Rory sniffled, her mind in a completely different place than her mothers. She was disturbed, and distracted, and distant. She looked up at the house, the home, where she had lived to that age of 18. "Is Luke here?"

Lorelai's brow furrowed at her daughters avoidance of her questions. "No, he's staying at his place tonight. Why? Honey, what is going on?"

But Rory had conversation ADD and was thrown off by what her mother had just said, especially given the fact that her head was still swimming with the conversation she had had with her father earlier. "Why isn't he staying here?"

"He has an early delivery tomorrow. But seriously, Rory, the evasiveness had got to stop. You call me frantic saying we have a problem, and then you get her and you're all concerned about where Luke is? You've got to tell me what's going on!"

It was only then, with her mother's pleading that Rory snapped out of her spawn-of-Satan (read: Christopher) induced haze to fully understand how freaked out her mother must be. "Yeah, okay. Let's go inside. I'll explain everything. Let's just...go inside."

Lorelai's eyes softened at her daughter's obvious distress over whatever it was that was bothering her. "Ok, hun." She wrapped her arm around her and they headed up the white stairs into the Crap Shack.

They reached the inside and the foyer of the house and, still leaning on each other, made their way to the couch. After collapsing on it, and a few moments of comfortable silence, Rory began to talk.

"So..."

"So," Lorelai countered, trying to not appear too desperate to know what was on her daughters mind.

"Okay. So, I was driving around tonight after..." she was suddenly cut off by the ring of the phone and spoke too quickly to think about what she was saying. "Mom, don't answer that!" _He wouldn't, _she thought.

Lorelai was already halfway to the mail table but whirled around at the urgent tone in her daughters voice. "What?"

Rory started to speak even faster, aware that the person on the other end of the phone could successfully ruin everything that she came here to say. _He wouldn't. Not so soon. _

"I just, really really want to talk to you so could you just not answer the phone."

But unfortunately this was not one of those magical ever-ringing phones and the answering machine kicked in before Rory even got a chance to figure out what to say, as the message playing in the background, Lorelai gave her daughter a look that clearly said "you're going crazy." Rory didn't even had a chance to refute that thought, she was too busy waiting, dreading the beep. _He wouldn't. _

Beep.

And the voice on the other end filled the room. "Lor, it's me…" Rory shut her eyes. _He would. _Lorelai stood frozen, eyes wide on her daughter, and then the machine, and then her daughter. And then the machine as the message continues, Christopher nasally voice seemed to envelope both of them. "I just, really want to talk to you. About Gigi, and about you, about…everything. Please just call me back. Bye"

Lorelai turned to face her daughters, whose freshly opened eyes were starting to well up.

"Rory? What was that all about?"

Rory took a deep, shaky breath and began. "Ok, so like I said, I was driving around tonight, and I stopped at Dad's…"

Lorelai jumped in here, too confused to be polite. "What? Why?"

Rory glanced at her mother with pleading eyes. _I just need to tell her, just need to get this out. _"Mom, please…"

"Sorry."

"So anyway, I stopped there. I told him…asked him to stop calling you. I asked him to just leave you alone."

Lorelai's voice came out in little more than a whisper. "Honey? Why would you do that?"

Rory's voice was stronger now, almost incensed at her mother's naivety, at her inability to see the obvious. "Because Mom, I didn't want him to mess things up with you and Luke! He always comes in and screws with our lives, but you're in a relationship now, and if he pulls a classic Dad move, it could be so much worse than before! I know that, and you know it too!"

Lorelai couldn't even form words at this point. "Honey…I don't…"

But the emotional well inside of Rory was open now, and it was running until dry. "I just…he started talking about you and him and I know you never mean anything to happen but he wants to be with you and he asked me if you loved Luke and he kept talking about being a family again and he might just be sad that Sherry's gone but I don't think that's it, and I just didn't want him to mess with you again. Because it's different this time. It's Luke."

Lorelai was dumb struck. "Yeah, it's Luke. Hey, what did you say?"

"What did I say when?"

"When he asked you if I loved Luke. What did you say?"

Rory didn't understand why this was important. "I told him I didn't know. We haven't really talked about it…do you?"

Lorelai got a far-off look in her eye that Rory didn't recognize. Not even all the times Lorelai had talked about Christopher during her childhood had she ever seen that look. But it was fleeting, only appearing for a few moments before being replaced by the hardened rational look that consumed most of Lorelai's love related matter. "Oh, I don't know. It's too soon."

Rory heaved a big sigh, knowing the bulk of this talk was over. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I should probably get going. I'm sorry to sling all this drama on you. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe he needs more diaper advice."

Lorelai only half-heard her daughters words. "Yeah, okay. Listen babe, if it really bothers you. I won't call him."

Rory got up and headed for the door, emotionally exhausted. "Mom, you do what you want. I trust you. Just please, don't let him mess up you and Luke. I…I want you guys together."

Lorelai snapped out of her thoughts at this comment. All these years, her daughter had wanted her mother and her father together, had crazy dreams that involved Chris whisking them all off to California to be one big happy family. But now… "You what?"

"I want you and Luke together, Mom. As long as that's what you want. He makes you happy in a way I've never seen you be before. He loves you and is so dedicated to you in a way Dad never has been and never will be. You know that. Yes, I used to have this dream that you Dad and I would one day be a family. But Luke has always been there. I almost told Dad tonight that Luke is like a father to me. I didn't want to hurt him, but it's true. I would rather have Luke in our family than Dad. But I don't know what your heart wants. Just figure that out okay? Don't let Dad ruin this, unless you honestly want to be with him."

And with that bomb, she was gone. Leaving her mother in the biggest emotional shock, since, well, probably since she found out she was pregnant. She walked in a haze back into the living room, and without thinking, hit the play button on the answering machine, hoping maybe re-listening to Chris's message would help her clear things up.

And as she heard his voice again, all she could think about was Luke. About how Chris didn't hold a candle to Luke in every aspect. About how Rory wanted her with Luke. Not that Rory had always bee the reason for her wanting to be with Chris, she wasn't saying that. But it had always been there, the hope that they could be a family. _But Rory wanted Luke for their family, not Chris. _And dammit, so did she.

Now what was she going to tell Chris?

Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't have much time to mull that over.

**Tee Bee Cee.**


	3. The Incredible Weight Of Bricks

Last Time_: Now what was she going to tell Chris?_

_Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't have much time to mull that over._

After grabbing a pint of Ben and Jerrys and settling down on the couch to mull over the interesting turn of events that her life had just seen, Lorelai was replaying one part of the conversation with Rory over and over in her head.

"_When he asked you if I loved Luke. What did you say?"_

_Rory didn't understand why this was important. "I told him I didn't know. We haven't really talked about it…do you?"_

"_Oh I don't know. It's too soon."_

She had lied. To her own daughter. Her first, and only born (as far as she knew of ha, ha) She knew it wasn't too soon. She knew that something this time was different. She could have given her a much better. Because she knew. She just wasn't ready to vocalize it yet. To her daughter or herself. _Or Luke. _

Whoa.

She had always heard of things hitting you like a ton of bricks, but she had never truly experienced it until just now. _A ton is heavy.  
_

She was interrupted in her revolutionary thinking by a banging somewhere in the vicinity of the porch area. _Maybe it's the bricks. Coming to hit me in real life. Stranger things have happened in Stars Hollow. _

She put the pint down and went to investigate. It seemed that the banging was coming from the porch. It seemed that someone, _or something_ was out there. And she had all too good an idea who.

"Christopher?"

Chris was sitting, well more like slumping, on the porch stairs, rubbing his head, which he had bumped when he so gracefully stumbled up _and then back down_ the stairs, when he heard her voice. "Lor!"

Lorelai cringed at his use of her "nickname." It was all too casual, all too much like he was her buddy. "What are you doing here, Christopher?"

Maybe it was the hit on the head, but Chris was in a bad mood, and was not looking to resolve this sympathetically. He was mad. Mad at Rory, but most of all, mad at himself. And he wanted some answers. Answers that deep down he knew she couldn't give him. But a couple Coronas and a lowball glass of Bacardi had convinced him that this was the place to go after his daughters impromptu Chris-bashing session earlier in the evening. "Lor, I just thought we could maybe talk…I…"

After her talk with Rory earlier, Lorelai still wasn't sure she was comfortable with where this was going, so she continued to talk through the closed door. But she still was concerned for him/ _I'm pretty much all he has, how pathetic. _"Talk about what Christopher? Did something happen with Gigi, do you need my help?"

"No, no nothing like that," he slurred. "I just thought we could talk about all the wonderful things your daughter said to me tonight."

"Jesus, Chris, are you drunk?" Lorelai was incredulous. "She's your daughter too, you know."

"Maybe by biology. But you were the one who filled her head with that crap. So yes, I feel I have the right to be a little upset."

At this point Lorelai had had enough. She flung open the door. "Upset or drunk, Christopher?"

He turned around and gave her his famous shit-eating grin. "Maybe a little of both."

She crossed her arms and cursed her bad luck that her wonderful daughter had gotten half of this bastards genes. "Go home, Christopher. Go home to your daughter."

He rose from the step and took a few more stpes than is socially acceptable towards a woman who took a few extra steps back. "I have another daughter that I need to deal with at the moment. Particularly the one who is a mouthpiece for her mother who took the liberty to inform…"

Lorelai held up a hand, partly to stop him from saying any more, and partly to block the stench eminating from his mouth. "All right, before you continue on what I'm sure will be an extremely enlightening speech, I just need to say that your daughter is a legal adult. She came over tonight of her own volition and I didn't even know she was there or what she said to you until she came here after she left your house."

"Oh so she came to tell you that you don't love Luke too?" Chris sneered, knowing and loving that he was so far over the line, it was a dot to him.

That was it. Lorelai slapped him across the face which due to the alcohol took a little longer to respond to. But when he finally did, it was loud and uncalled for. "You bitch!" He grabbed her wrist, which she quickly maneuvered out of, and was about to make another move, when they heard a voice to the left.

"Hey suga, could you maybe take that inside? You're waking the whole neighborhood," Babette called.

"Shit," Lorelai breathed. "Sorry Babette, no problem," she called back. "We're done here."

"Like hell we are," Chris sneered. "We'll take this inside." And with whatever strength a drunk man can muster, her shoved her up the stairs and into her house and slammed the door.

**A/N: TBC How long has Babette been listening? Will she do something? Is Chris too big of a pussy to really do anything? Will Luke ever come to his senses( that was really more for tonight episode. I was really hoping for some good old-fashioned Jess/Luke whipping into shape. I was disappointed. But it looks like Chris will be returning next week. Let the bashing commence!)? **


End file.
